Infrastructure Australia CEO warns of freight task ahead

Speaking at the Australian Logistics Council’s (ALC) recent forum ‘Getting the Supply Chain Right’, Philip Davies, CEO of independent advisory body Infrastructure Australia, highlighted the need for Australia to consider the long-term threats to Australia’s supply chain network.
“We need a national freight and supply chain strategy and reforms to identify economic competitiveness linked to goods and services, and linked domestically and overseas,” he said.
One challenges he identified – population growth – would, he explained offer both positive and negative outcomes.
“Growth is good,” he said. “It’s beneficial for the economy, due to the increased size of the labour force, but there could be greater delays, more bottlenecks. The quality of the services we provide will decline without proper organisation.”
Davies shared that the land freight task will increase 80% from 2011 to 2031, but the cost of inaction in that same timeframe to the Government will be $5.3 billion.
“It’s necessary to judge if projects have strategic and economic merit,” he said. “In future, we will need a greater national approach to this – they’re very much national issues but we have no cohesive strategy.
“We need to develop this strategy through a highly consultative and collaborative process, identify network constraints and gaps, create a sustainable source of revenue for maintenance of infrastructure, and provide clear recommendations to the Government and industry.”